The rumors that Jets owner Woody Johnson (above left) and former Mets manager Bobby Valentine are under consideration for key U.S. ambassador posts—Johnson to the U.K. and Valentine to Japan—may come as a surprise to those who are unacquainted with the history of U.S. diplomatic appointments. But the notion that Johnson, in particular, a wealthy philanthropist who served as vice chairman of the Trump Victory Committee, should be jetting off to London to kibitz with UKIP—no pun intended—is really just more of the same.
According to the American Foreign Service Association, about a third of U.S. ambassadors in the United States are, on average, political appointees, while the rest are career diplomats.
Matthew Kassel has written for The New York Times Magazine and The Wall Street Journal.
